She made the announcement with no real fanfare, but a few tears thrown in for good measure.
"I have 10 shows left after this…. and after that I will not see you for an incredibly long time," Adele told her adoring crowd mid-gig at her Munich residency last month.
"I just need a rest. I have spent the last seven years building a new life for myself, and I want to live it now. I want to live my new life that I've been building."
It’s not the first time that the Hello singer has said goodbye to fans for a prolonged period of time, but taking an extended hiatus while at the height of her powers does make for an interesting conversation-starter: when is the right time for a band or artist to hang up their microphone?
"but after that [10 shows in Vegas], i will not see you for an incredibly long time… i just need a rest. i've spent the last 7 years building the life for myself, I want to live it now. I want to live my new life I’ve been building" — Adele pic.twitter.com/LwviKRcVAe
— fran sainz⁵⁵🍷 (@adeledrinkswine) August 31, 2024
Adele, with 120 million album sales in her back pocket, is undoubtedly in a privileged position; not every musician can afford to step back from their career safe in the knowledge that an enthusiastic fanbase eagerly awaits their return. Still, many of her ilk have continued to plunder the well until it’s bone dry, their careers offering diminishing creative returns for the sake of banking another few million. There is a lot to be said for artists quitting while they’re ahead, rather than allowing their judgement to be clouded by dollar signs.
For every band or artist who makes the right decision to call it a day, of course, there are ten who probably should have done the same and disappeared for at least a few years.
Take Johnny Marr, for example. The guitarist walked away from The Smiths - one of the most influential bands of all time - after just five years in the band, mostly because he wanted to work with other musicians. Marr has admirably resisted calls to reform The Smiths over the years, too; as recently as last month, his former musical partner Morrissey sullenly claimed that a megabucks offer had been made to both of them to tour in 2025, which he says Marr ignored. You’ve gotta love a musician with principles.
If Oasis can do it The Smiths can too (I'm delusional)
— Layne (@kill_morrissey) August 25, 2024
OutKast have taken a similar stance over the years. The era-defining hip-hop duo came, saw, conquered and quit, with both Andre 3000 and Big Boi releasing solo albums to varying degrees of success, yet defying requests to regroup. If Andre wants to make a solo album of flute music, so be it. Similarly, Daft Punk could easily have milked their shtick for another twenty years, dining out on their back catalogue alone; instead, they called it a day in 2021, having sidestepped any number of embarrassing collaborations with younger artists in a bid to stay relevant. Lou Reed and Metallica. Madonna with Justin Timberlake. Paul McCartney with Rihanna and Kanye West. I could go on.
Even Garth Brooks took a similar stance to Adele when he announced his retirement in 2000, vowing not to release any new music until his youngest daughter had finished high school in 2014. Apart from a smattering of gigs here and a residency there, he more or less kept his promise; short tours are a very different beast to the machine that kicks in when you’re a megastar with a new album to promote.
For every band or artist who makes the right decision to call it a day, of course, there are ten who probably should have done the same and disappeared for at least a few years. With all the recent chatter about Oasis, they really ought to have called it a day after 2005’s Don’t Believe the Truth, if not before. The less said about Dig Out Your Soul, the better.
Special Oasis dynamic pricing issue
— Private Eye Magazine (@PrivateEyeNews) September 11, 2024
The new Private Eye is out now pic.twitter.com/MNUirMS9aN
Don’t we, as music fans, deserve the best an artist has to offer and not just some hastily cobbled-together collection of sub-par tracks released to fulfil a contractual obligation? And although it may pain you not to have new material by your favourite band when it seems like some truly terrible musicians are releasing a new album every year, surely it’s better for a band or artist to bow out gracefully at the top of their game, rather than flog a dead horse, tarnish their legacy and become an embarrassment?
Of course, that also means that whenever Adele does make her glorious return - whether it’s five, ten or twenty years down the line - she’ll need to have a hell of an album under her belt to live up to expectations.
So enjoy that break, Adele… no pressure.
